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confessare

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word confessare

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
late 12th century, Tuscan document
Borrowed from
Latin confesso
Ultimate origin
Latin fateor

Pronunciation

  • /kon.fesˈsa.re/[1]

Forms

confessare (first-person singular present confèsso, first-person singular past historic confessài, past participle confessàto, auxiliary avére)[1] Old Italian spellings include chonfessare, chofesare and cconfessare.[2] Old Sicilian had confessari and confissari.[3]

Etymology

It is a learned or half-learned word, borrowed from Medieval Latin *cōnfessāre, a verb formed in Church and medieval Latin on cōnfessus (“having admitted”), the past participle of cōnfiteor (“to admit, confess”).[4][1][5][6] The Latin verb is a compound of con- and fateor (“to acknowledge, admit”); in Christian Latin it translated Ancient Greek ὁμολογέω (homologéō) of the New Testament.[4][7][8] DELI and the TLIO call the base a spoken Latin verb, and DELI treats it under the adjective “confessed”.[9][2]

The LEI explains the verb as coming through the participle, from the many phrases of the type essere confesso “to have confessed”, found also in the Old French phrase estre cunfes and in Old Umbrian confessu, recorded in 1065.[3] The same verb is French confesser (about 1172–1175, Chrétien de Troyes), Old Occitan confessar, Spanish confesar and Romansh confessar.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is a Tuscan document from the end of the 12th century;[2][8] GRADIT dates the word to about 1274.[2][8] DELI's oldest sense, “to declare the receipt of a sum”, is in a Pratese document of 1293, a legal use the TLIO also lists.[9][2]

Semantic evolution

The religious senses appear around 1300: Iacopone (before 1306) uses the verb for telling one's sins to a priest, and Dante (before 1321) for the priest who hears confession.[9] In law, as in Dino Compagni's chronicle (1310–1312), it meant to admit openly a crime or other blameworthy act; a man under torture “confessed” to having taken false testimony.[9][6] Old Italian also used it for professing one's faith in public, despite the consequences.[2]

In modern Italian the verb covers admitting a fault or crime, confiding a secret or a feeling (ti confesso che… “I must admit…”), and the sacrament; the reflexive confessarsi is to go to confession.[8][10][11] The Tuscan proverb Chi tutto nega, tutto confessa, “he who denies everything confesses everything”, is in Tommaseo.[12]

Timeline

  • Late 12th century – A Tuscan document has the first record.[2]
  • 1293 – A Pratese document uses it for acknowledging receipt of a sum.[9]
  • Before 1306 – Iacopone uses it for confessing one's sins.[9]
  • 1310–1312 – Dino Compagni uses it for admitting a crime.[9]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses it for the priest hearing confession.[9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To confess, admit a fault, error or crime: Alla fine il ladro ha confessato tutto.[8][10][13]
  2. To reveal something personal or secret; to admit: Ti confesso che non ho letto il libro.[8][10][11]
  3. (religion) To tell one's sins in confession; of a priest, to hear confession: Il parroco confessa il sabato pomeriggio.[8][10][14]
  4. (literary) To profess a faith openly: confessare Cristo.[8][11][15]

Word family

  • confessarsi
  • sconfessare
  • sconfessione
  • confessabile
  • riconfessare
  • confessione
  • confesso
  • confessore
  • confessionale
  • professare
  • Latin confiteor
  • French confesser

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  3. ^ a b c Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 16, 1430
  4. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1056
  6. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  10. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  11. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  13. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  14. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Confessare.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/confessare. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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